Happy World Kindness Week! Be sure to hold the door or flash a smile at someone. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and my stomach is growling at the thought of mac and cheese, turkey, ham and rolls. If you want all the fixings without the kitchen mess, Eater Detroit rounded up restaurants offering dine-in and takeout Thanksgiving dinners. If money is tight, here’s our list of spots giving out meals to those in need.
Did you go to Motor City Comic Con last weekend? I missed the festivities this year, but I love seeing celebrities and everyday people come together to nerd out on the latest movies, TV shows and comics. I’m saving up for Dream Con next summer, where all of us gaming nerds get our moment in the spotlight.
Back in the present, we’ve got an underrated coffee shop up for guessing, plus two gallery shows worth a detour, a culturally relevant film to stream, some hamburger history and an artists’ protest.
Ready for your culture news? Read on in this week’s roundup.
Can you guess this spot?
Last week’s secret spot stumped our readers, which means you might be due for a trip to the Coloring Museum!
Owner Sherrie Savage opened the space for creativity and community on Grand River Avenue in North Rosedale Park this fall to defy the common household rule: “Don’t draw on the walls.”
This week’s spot is another coffee hotspot on Third Avenue in Midtown. Also, their bagels have the ideal cream-to-cheese ratio.
Do you know where this is?
Email me at samya@outliermedia.org with the answer for a shoutout next week, or look out for it on our Instagram.
Future fashion
Costumes from “Black Panther” and more notable films designed by Ruth E. Carter are on display at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
The exhibit “Afrofuturism in Costume Design” opened last month and will be open through March. It features more than 60 pieces from the costume designer’s work for films, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” and “Malcolm X,” and the 2021 movie “Coming 2 America.”
In 2019, Carter won an Academy Award for costume design for her work on “Black Panther,” becoming the first Black woman to win in that category. She picked up another gold statue for the sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
(BridgeDetroit, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History)
Made here
Painter Marianna Olague explores familial relationships in her new exhibition, “People You Know.” It’s on display at the David Klein Gallery in downtown Detroit through Dec. 23.
The exhibit features brightly colored portraits of Olague’s loved ones. The array of hues, used to capture her subjects’ auras, is a nod to her Mexican American heritage. (Marianna Olague, Metro Times, David Klein Gallery)
Black in America, on screen and in sound
Documentary “Donyale Luna: Supermodel” and music album “9” by native Detroiter BLKBOK, new this fall, offer powerful reminders about the experience of Black people in America.
The HBO documentary follows Donyale Luna, a formerly bullied Detroiter who became the world’s first Black supermodel in the 1960s before she died of an overdose at age 33 in 1979. Director Nailah Jefferson traces Luna’s quest to find acceptance amid discrimination in the fashion industry with stories from her daughter, models who followed in her footsteps and archival material.
Neoclassical pianist BLKBOK goes deep in his latest album, “9.” The native Detroiter, who has performed with Rihanna and Justin Timberlake, explores his path to self-discovery, pulling inspiration from a historic civil rights struggle and even featuring words from his therapist, Felicia Thomas.
(BLAC Media, HBO, Detroit Free Press, BLKBOK, WDET)
More to explore
🇵🇸 Cranbrook Academy of Arts students and alumni have been rallying against censorship after they said the school removed Palestinian flags displayed in studios and elsewhere on campus — and one artist who signed an open letter to the administration was dropped by her gallerist, David Klein Gallery. (Metro Times)
🍔 CuriosiD helps us figure out why there are so many white-tile slider joints in metro Detroit. (WDET)
🎓 After-school program Serve Squad works to increase college enrollment rates in Detroit, helping high school students get an education without all the debt. (Freep)
🧑⚕️ Wayne State University students lead Community Health Nights with nonprofit Brilliant Detroit to offer Detroiters hands-on learning about reproductive, respiratory and other health topics. (Wayne State)